Cal Fire says Keswick Fire caused by shooting rifles at steel targets
People out shooting at steel targets ignited a fire that burned about 9 acres Thursday, fire officials said.
The fire broke out at about 11 a.m. on a hillside near the U.S. Bureau of Land Management gun ranges off Iron Mountain Road in Keswick.
"Shooting at steel targets with high powered rifles, oftentimes you get fragments that are glowing red hot when they land in a receptive field bed such as grass or a brush that's in the sunlight and has been curing all day, the fires get started from it," said J.T. Zulliger, a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The ranges are open from 8 a.m. until noon, and the people shooting rifles Thursday were target practicing during legal shooting hours Thursday, Zulliger said.
Several fire engines, hand crews, a helicopter and air tankers worked on the fire for more than three hours.
Fires ignited from target practice at the ranges are not uncommon in the summer, he said.
"You got high powered rifles, and when you're shooting a projectile with that kind of speed and that kind of kinetic energy, and the conditions are right, it's probable you can get fires," Zulliger said.
"So just a reminder to people, you've got to be careful, stay within the shooting hours and have a way to put a fire out in the event it does occur," he said.
Mike Chapman is an award-winning reporter and photographer for the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif. His newspaper career spans Yreka and Eureka in Northern California and Bellingham, Wash. Support local journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Cal Fire says Keswick Fire caused by shooting rifles at steel targets
